Alex Salmond’s dealings with the rich and powerful are under fierce scrutiny following extraordinary revelations on two fronts.
The three main opposition leaders at Holyrood released a joint statement on Wednesday demanding Mr Salmond make a full emergency statement on the affair.
Mr Salmond refused to do so, saying he would be available to answer questions during today’s proceedings at Holyrood. However, he did confirm he had been willing to make direct representations to Mr Hunt but had not been called on to do so.
He stated: ”There can’t be possibly any suggestion of wrongdoing or impropriety.”
Mr Salmond also rejected the claims made by Mr Trump at Holyrood.
The US Apprentice star had visited the Scottish Parliament to give evidence on windfarms.
Referring to his new golf course in Aberdeenshire, he said he had been ”lured” into the development with false promises that no wind turbines would be built nearby. However, plans were subsequently lodged, prompting Mr Trump to threaten to walk away from further development.
Referring to the 2007 meeting with Mr Salmond he said: ”He was in New York, we had a long dinner, we discussed a lot of things and one was wind and windfarms. He was not as big a proponent in those days as he is now. Right now, he’s being very misguided.”
He continued: ”I was certainly led to believe there would be absolutely no windfarm.”
Asked by The Courier if Mr Salmond had offered to use his influence as First Minister to block the application, Mr Trump replied: ”I don’t think he said that, no. But he led me to believe there would be no windfarm.”
Asked if he had lost trust in Mr Salmond, the businessman said: ”I don’t want to say that.”
A spokesman for the First Minister said: ”These claims from Mr Trump are total nonsense. Absolutely no assurances have been given at any time by the First Minister or anyone in this administration to Mr Trump or his organisation, and any claims to the contrary are wrong.
”The suggestion that any assurances were given at a dinner in New York in October 2007, which was attended by other business people and potential inward investors in Scotland, is merely the latest in a long line of bizarre twists and claims and is completely untrue no such assurances were given.”
But Labour’s Lewis Macdonald said: ”Just as Alex Salmond has questions to answer over Rupert Murdoch, he must also come clean on what promises he made to Donald Trump.
”It is outrageous that Alex Salmond is putting the interests of rich businessmen not the people of Scotland first.”
Photos by PA Wire
Controversial billionaires Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump made a series of claims about their relationships with the First Minister during a dramatic and fast-moving day of disclosures on both sides of the border.
Giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry in London, Mr Murdoch admitted he had instructed his Scottish Sun newspaper to support the SNP after striking up a ”warm” relationship with Mr Salmond.
Meanwhile in Edinburgh, Donald Trump told a Scottish Parliament committee that Mr Salmond had assured him there would be no offshore wind turbines near his golf course.
The US tycoon claimed the First Minister, like his predecessor Jack McConnell, gave the impression at a New York dinner in 2007 that the proposed test centre would not be built.
A spokesman for Alex Salmond branded Mr Trump’s allegations ”total nonsense” and categorically denied there had ever been a ”quid pro quo” with Mr Murdoch to support the BSkyB takeover bid in return for favourable coverage.
But the timing and similarities of the claims raised fresh questions about the SNP leader, with Labour attacking what they described as his ”toe-curling desperation to please rich and powerful men”.
Mr Murdoch gave evidence to the Leveson inquiry, where he was asked about the Scottish Sun’s support for the SNP prior to its landslide election victory last year.
He admitted he had been involved in the decision to back the Nationalists, saying he was ”attracted by the idea” of Scottish independence but was ”not convinced”.
He added: ”I said we should stay neutral on the big issue, but let’s see how (Mr Salmond) performs.”
He described the First Minister as ”an amusing guy” and said: ”I enjoy his company I enjoy talking with him or listening to him.”
But Mr Murdoch consistently denied he had sought to swap commercial advantage for support in his newspapers.
The exchange followed revelations at Leveson on Tuesday that Mr Salmond had been willing to intervene and lobby UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt on the proposed takeover of BSkyB.
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